Fatal Light [Paperback]

Richard Currey (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 27, 1997

A young medic goes from his sleepy West Virginia hometown to the soul-searing terrain of the Vietnam War to learn about American "innocence" in a war that brings new horrors each day. Later the medic returns home to confront his shattered personal history and the mysterious human capacity for renewal. "Of all the many books written about the war . . . this one will be among the handful destined to endure," said Philip Caputo about this beautifully written and powerful first novel.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

In 1967, a West Virginia 18-year-old is ordered to report for induction later that year, a far cry from the college football scholarship he had hoped for and the promise of luminous places. His father plies him with military memories of sex and music; his mother puts on an unwavering face; and his girlfriend, Mary, tells him she won't wait for him.

Once in country, the soldier goes on rescue missions (which often involve picking up more dead than wounded), smokes pot, tries to cope with the dense air, elephant grass, monkeys' screams--and not focus on the killing. He encloses a photo with a letter to Mary and points out that the bulge in his pocket is a paperback of Emily Dickinson: "Such things live together here, poetry and shotguns." Richard Currey writes in that same mixture of violence and lyricism, because for his soldier Vietnam is a place of cruel extremes. Next to a spot where bodies are piled, "the sun was dropping in an elegant fog of muted roses that I might call lovely if I though my feelings were intact," he later tells his girlfriend.

Discharge brings the difficulty of resuming life. Attempting to describe his experience, he brings up one of the more palatable names for Vietnam--"a world of hurt." Fatal Light is an achingly poetic re-creation of an ugly history.

From Publishers Weekly

"Currey's debut novel is a powerfully written, haunting account of a young man's voyage to adulthood, confusion and alienation, beginning in America, taking us through his experiences in Vietnam and his return home. . . . This is a stunning narrative by a writer to watch," praised PW.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 195 pages
• Publisher: Mariner Books (May 27, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0395859956
• ISBN-13: 978-0395859957
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,090,578 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Read this coming of age novel about a man in the Vietnam War, April 9, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Fatal Light (Paperback)

Richard Currey's Fatal Light is captivating and enlightening. I could not stop reading the book once I started. I found myself drawn into the life and experiences of the narrator--most likely based on the author's experiences as a marine in Vietnam. Currey writes his impressions personally and vividly. His stream of consciousness starts with life as a boy, and alternates impressions and experiences in the warring Vietnam jungle with the more peaceful times with the girl he left behind. Some readers may, at first, find the time period switches uncomfortable. However, if the reader allows him/herself to get into the mind-set of this young soldier, it will be clear as to why he presents his story this way. Life in this war was anything but straightforward. The time period switches show us how the narrator coped. He had to remember home and better times in order to have the energy and desire to stay alive in the war. Richard Currey shows us through the eyes of his narrator how it feels to go from mid-America small-town life as an adolescent to the savagery of war and back. The narrator changes in the process, and so do we, as we vicariously experience and come through the reality and horror of war--but also, it seems, with almost first-hand knowledge.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Horrifying and Beautiful, July 1, 2009

By 

A. Westerman - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Fatal Light (Paperback)

This book, the 20th anniversary edition of Fatal Light by Richard Currey, is an account of a transition from boyhood to war and then home again. Yet, although many books about war follow similar paths, Currey declines to focus on narrative. Rather, he evokes emotions and feelings in tiny snapshots of one participant's life during the Vietnam War. The result is a dream-like book, where episodes of the narrator's boyhood, his time on the battlefield, on leave in Saigon and on his first few days back home are told in the same style as his recounting of malarial delirium. If the result is a portrait of one man's experience of the war, Currey wields his brush sparingly, but each line is precisely placed.

Less concerned with narrative than with tone, Currey sometimes allows the reader to be confused. The reader may have some difficulty knowing which tales might be referred to later on, and which will merely fade away. Yet, I can't help but consider this a stylistic device, rather than a flaw. The disjointed narrative conveys the confusion the narrator feels throughout his time in the war and immediately after.

The prose is beautiful, even if the subject is ugly. I highly recommend this book.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fatal Light, October 10, 2001

By 

jlr (United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Fatal Light (Paperback)

Simply the best book on the Vietnam War experience i have ever read. i was unable to put it down, even when i was so angry i wanted to throw it across the room, or when i was crying my eyes out. this book touched me in a way none other has. simply a must-read.